A month and a half after her death, Kathryn Joosten this morning landed her first supporting actress nomination for her role on Desperate Housewives. The ABC dramedy, which was a major Emmy contender early in its run and won best comedy series award for Felicity Huffman in its first year, earned two Emmy nominations for its final season. Fittingly, they went to Joosten and Brenda Strong, whose characters’ deaths framed the series: Strong’s Mary Alice’s suicide in the pilot kicked off the show, while the death of Joosten’s Karen McKluskey was at the center of the series finale in May. Desperate Housewives narrator Strong is nominated in the voice-over category for a second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, Joosten has been nominated in the guest-starring category for her work on the dramedy three times and won twice: in 2005 and 2008. The story arc of her character in the final season mirrored her own — both McKluskey and Joosten died of lung cancer, which probably resonated with Emmy voters. Additionally, Joosten was active with the TV Academy and has had longtime support there as evident by her now-four Emmy nominations for Desperate Housewives.

I hope she wins if only to bring more awareness to her cause. I can’t think of a modern performance as brave as hers, portraying a character dying of the same disease onscreen she was dying from in real life. Amazing to think that she gave her final performance on the show weeks before her final curtain call. Thank you for inspiring all of us lucky enough to work with you.